Pop Culture Blog

The best arcades in Dallas and how they echo the golden age of coin-op

As someone born in the late 80′s, I’m just old enough to have caught the tail end of arcades at their peak. I got to be that annoying little kid that would beat you at Tekken when you smugly walk up to the cabinet, expecting an easy fight. I got to play through The Simpsons Arcade Game with three friends at my side. I got to sneakily play Mortal Kombat when my mom wasn’t looking, because she wasn’t a fan.

I felt excitement because arcades still exist and, if done right, can still draw a bit of a crowd. I went to NickelRama a lot as a kid (and had a lot of birthday parties there), so it was great to see it busy with children and parents.

But I felt sadness because the “golden age” of arcades is obviously gone. There’s still nostalgia for it, and it makes awesome resurgences from time to time (for example, California Extreme, the huge arcade expo, and King of Kong, the great documentary about the battle for a Donkey Kong high score), but consoles have taken over everybody’s gaming dollars. Heck, it’s part of why Midway no longer exists. It’s why the latest Mortal Kombat wasn’t released as an arcade cabinet (Street Fighter IV was, but only in Japan).

So what’s new in arcades today?

Ever heard of Deadstorm Pirates, from Namco? Neither had I. But it was in every arcade I visited. Every. One. It’s the new Jurassic Park, apparently. That rail shooter that you see everywhere you go, The difference with Deadstorm Pirates is that I hardly ever saw people playing it. Not that it seemed like a bad game — it looked perfectly competent.

Similarly, there were Guitar Hero machines everywhere. I assume they were bought when rhythm games featuring plastic instruments were still a huge deal, because they’ve fizzled out significantly over the past couple of years.

I was also a bit surprised at the newness of some of the pinball machines I saw. I didn’t stumble on Theater of Magic or anything, but instead I saw machines based on the likes of Avatar and Tron: Legacy.

Pinball machines at NickelRama

In terms of new games, I was probably happiest to see Pac-Man Battle Royale, a four-player Pac-Man game done in the style of Pac-Man Championship Edition, which was an incredible console update to the Pac-Man formula. Battle Royale seems awesome, and it’s great that Pac-Man is still ruling arcades — or what’s left of them.

One thing I was weirded out (and perhaps even grossed out) by was iPad games turned arcade games. Specifically Fruit Ninja FX and Infinity Blade FX.

These games were literally large touch-screen monitors with tweaked versions of popular iPad games on them. On one hand I thought it was cool — I really love Infinity Blade, and obviously not everyone can afford an iPhone or iPad, but it also seems weird to pay a dollar or more to play a game of Fruit Ninja when I can buy the app for $0.99. Plus, the best aspect of Infinity Blade involves leveling up and buying new gear over time, which is lost if you’re only playing the few times a year you might visit Dave and Buster’s.

At the end of the day, I mostly wanted to go back to Barcadia. They had Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. They had Tron. They had Dig Dug. But that’s what I think I was really wanting after a return to arcades: nostalgia. The only downside is that I’m not much for drinking, so the bar aspect of Barcadia isn’t perfect for me.

Arcade hopping did get me excited for today’s youth, though. If I were a parent, I would definitely be making more trips to the arcade with my child. I hope there are still some coin-op destinations around when I get around to having a kid, because I’ll want him or her to get at least a taste of my gaming childhood.

I won’t lie: I came home from visiting these arcades and starting hunting for arcade cabinets on Craigslist. If you have an old Joust or Warlords machine you want to give me, let me know. I just need to convince my wife to let me put it in my house. If I can’t find the perfect nostalgia-inducing arcade on the town, I’ll just try to build one at home.

Did I miss any great arcades in my feature? Do you have any fond memories of local arcades? I’d love to hear about them.